The Madness Spell
by YamiHeart
Summary: When Yugi has a horrible nightmare, he'll discover not all nightmares end when the sun rises. As Yugi slowly loses his sanity, Yami will have to figure out what's wrong before it's too late! NO YAOI! Anywhere! Just in case anyone thought otherwise. DISCONTINUED. Sorry.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone, it's me, YamiHeart!_

_Sarah: And I'm sure no one cares._

_*SIGH* and this is my Yami..._

_Sarah: Whatever. Hey, what about your other stories? The ones you **already** started._

_Well...I will update them, but sometimes I need to take a break and write something different. So anyone who's watching any of my other stories, I'm sorry. I'll update as soon as I can._

_Sarah: Might as well tell everyone who doesn't care about your other stories your sorry for having to put that in at the begining._

_Um...yeah. Sorry everyone else for...that.^^ Sarah, care to do the honors?_

_Sarah:No._

_Fine. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. _

_Sarah: As if anyone thought you did..._

_Please enjoy._

* * *

"_Poison, some rope, and a knife."_

The words made Yugi wake up and find himself in a white, empty space. Confused, he started to wander around to try to find out if anything, or anyone else, was there.

"_A lack of air, an abundance of water."_

"Hello?" Yugi called out, more than a little scared. Here he was, all alone in an empty space, with no sign of his Yami. Most of us do not understand how horrifying it can be to share your body with someone for a long time and wake up in an unfamiliar place with them gone, especially when they were usually there to protect you.

"_All of these things can take a life."_

The last line made Yugi stop cold. Such words were…disturbing to hear, whether you knew where you were or not.

"_What to choose, what to choose…"_

"Please stop!" Yugi cried out. He covered his ears in an attempt to block the horrible words from being heard, but it was futile.

"_Perhaps a hack saw or a noose."_

The once white space now black as the horrifying lyrics continued.

"_Run home, seek the safety of your mommy,"_

"No more!" Yugi cried out vainly. The now suffocating darkness swallowed up Yugi's words as soon as they escaped his lips and continued to flow into his body. The shadows entered his veins and spread themselves throughout his person, causing Yugi extreme pain. He tried to fight them off, but there was only one little Yugi and a never ending onslaught of darkness.

"_For I have to kill a boy and his Yami."_

From the darkness a figure descended and approached Yugi, who was now screaming in pain from the shadows that were trying to get at his heart. Despite all this pain, Yugi's only thought was his concern for his Yami's safety.

"Wh-what are you going to do to Yami?" Yugi struggled to get out. His screams had preoccupied the shadows with something to munch on if only for a second, but as soon as he spoke again, the shadows resumed to try to consume the pure light that emanated from his heart.

The figure bent down and softly brushed Yugi's face. The gesture itself was warm, but the figure gave of a feeling of pure coldness.

"Your light will be so delicious to consume…" The man said almost absentmindedly.

"_Yami! Please help me!"_ Yugi thought as loud as he could. _"Please!"_

But it was too late.

Yugi felt the shadows reach his heart before he blacked out.

Yugi bolted up in bed, sweat beading down his face and his breath irregular. He looked around in a panic, but once he calmed down he realized he was safe in his room, under his secure covers on his bed. He let out a sigh of relief.

"_It was all just a dream…"_ Yugi smiled. Never had he been so happy to wake up from his sleep; the dream had truly shaken him to the core.

"_Are you alright, Aibou?"_ Yami asked through their mindlink. Hearing Yami's voice only put Yugi even more at ease.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a nightmare." Yami wasn't convinced, but he decided to let it go, for now.

"_Alright…if you're sure."_

"I'm sure." Yugi said confidently.

"_Will you be able to go back to sleep?"_

Yugi glanced over at the red numbers on his clock that read _7:00 am_.

"Don't have to; it's time to get ready for the day." Yugi hopped out of bed, still a little shaken up about the dream, but trying his best not to alert his Yami.

Despite Yugi's best efforts, Yami knew something was bothering him. Yami himself hadn't experienced a nightmare in over 4,000 years, excluding the ones he witnessed whenever his Hikari was in mortal danger in, but those were in the real world, so they didn't count.

"_If the nightmare really bothered you that bad, you could just tell me what happened." _Yami said, trying to figure out what could bother his usually so cheerful Aibou.

"I promise you it's n-" Yugi froze as the words flowed through his ears as clearly as if someone were saying them right into his ear.

"_Poison, some rope, and a knife."_

_Meanwhile…_

"I see you've returned, master." Pscipolnitsa greeted her master. She appeared as a young maiden adorned in all white. Her job as a demon during the day was to cause anywhere from heatstroke to madness in a person working out in the sun, but by night she served her master: the soul eater, as he was referred to in the shadows. The soul eater entered through a shadow portal of his own creation and barely even noticed the Pscipolnitsa's welcome.

"So tantalizing…it's so hard to wait…" The soul eater didn't seem to realize where he was as he walked over to his armchair and sat down.

"Er…what is, sir?" Pscipolnitsa had the soul eater's favorite drink, a Bloody Mary with real blood, on a silver platter and lifted it up for easy access.

"Isn't it just my luck that one of the tainted souls that I've been searching for would take up residence in a body with a pure soul?" Soul eater took the drink and gulped it down.

"You found a pure soul? That you can touch?" Pure souls were nearly impossible to find in the modern age with all this technology and knowledge, and even if you did manage to find one, it was usually impossible to touch when your soul was as black as the soul eater's.

"Not just touch, but eat as well." The soul eater said with a devious smile.

Pscipolnitsa stood shocked.

"Y-you asked for a madness spell to obtain a pure soul?" Pscipolnitsa had said what master asked her to as a madness spell, even though she hadn't known why at the time.

"It will be **so** much fun to eat…remember the last pure soul I had?"

Pscipolnitsa shook her head "no".

"Exactly. I can't recall either, which simply means it's been too long. I can barely even recall how much fun it is to eat one…"

"_Fun…"_ The word rung through Pscipolnitsa's head. She had heard that the shadows liked tainted souls, but the pure ones were much more fun to crush slowly and turn into a tainted soul.

"Pscipolnitsa." The soul eater said to get her attention. "I would like to ask for your help in obtaining this soul, for it will still be tough."

"Why?"

"The other soul I've been searching for is quite protective of his light; even I felt it when I simply entered the hallway of their soulrooms. But the madness spell I asked you for was quite effective, but not strong enough to disable him long enough for me to eat him."

"So you want me to do it during the day until he's ready to be eaten." Pscipolnitsa realized out loud.

"I'm so glad you see what I'm getting at. So, can I count you in?"

Pscipolnitsa smiled wickedly. One was lucky to even see a pure soul, nonetheless watch it fall into the darkness.

"Of course, master."

* * *

_Sarah: What the...? Someone is going to **eat** Yugi?_

_I'm not telling, it would give the story away! I want people to come back and read again! BTW, Pscipolnitsa is an actual demon. I found her online. Cool, huh?_

_Sarah: I knew that. Me and her are like this *Crosses Fingers*_

_What? Since when?_

_Sarah: Believe me, I knew her **way** before I knew you._

_Oh...well...Please comment!_

_Sarah: Oh yes, please do. YamiHeart does this weird loathing thing when no one comments._

_Do not!_

_Sarah: Talking to Atem in you manga books is definitley not "normal"._

_Hey, I do that whether I get comments or not._

_Sarah: True._

_Goodbye everyone! Please come back!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Bun nuh! I'm Back!_

_Sarah: Huzzah. -_- _

_Oh whatever. Hey, thanks to LovinTheTan and Yugisrose for the comments!_

_Sarah: Must you do that** every **time someone comments?_

_Hey, it's only nice to do that to the people who take time out of their lives to leave you something to read._

_Sarah: Whatever. Anyway, YamiHeart doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!_

_Oh, before I let you go to read thie story, if you like it, you should read "Every Rose Has It's Thorn". It's a FanFiction I'm co-writing with cyclonzgirl, and you can find it on their profile. _

_Now, please enjoy chapter 2. _

* * *

Back to Yami and Yugi…

Yugi fell to the ground, trembling, and with his hands covering his ears.

"_Yugi! Are you alright?"_ Yami rushed to his Hikari's side, but he was helpless to stop Yugi's fears when he didn't even know what was causing them.

"Make it stop!" Yugi cried out.

"_Make what stop? What's wrong Aibou?"_

Yugi's scream had grabbed Grandpa Mutou's attention, and he quickly ran upstairs to see what the problem was. He busted open the door to see Yugi in obvious pain on the ground. But, he was just as clueless as Yami as to what the problem was.

"Yugi! What's wrong?" Grandpa bent down to where Yugi was on the opposite side of Yami (although Grandpa didn't know that Yami was on the other side) and tried just as Yami had to get to the bottom of what was going on.

Yugi took his hands from his ears and relief washed over his face. He turned to Grandpa with a bright smile and said "Nothing, just a nightmare."

With nothing else in the room to classify as the cause of Yugi's distress, Grandpa shrugged and left the room, still a little skeptical about Yugi's answer.

"_Yugi, what really happened?" _Yami asked seriously.

"I guess you could call it a nightmare aftershock." Yugi did a half-hearted giggle to try to ease the tension he had created.

"_Yugi…I'm concerned…"_

"Don't worry! It's **just** a **nightmare**. People get them all the time. After I get my day started I'll be fine."

Yami wasn't persuaded. He was about to say something when he swore he saw something dark flash in Yugi's eyes. Shocked, Yami did a double take to see it was gone and dismissed it as his nerves getting the best of him.

Before Yami could bring the subject back again, Yugi dashed out of his room and headed out to meet his friends at Domino Plaza, just like he did every Sunday.

"Hey Yug, you're late!" Jonouchi called out from in front of the clock tower smack dab in the middle of Domino plaza. Yugi and his friends liked meeting early in the morning so that they could spend the whole day together.

"Sorry," Yugi apologized. "I overslept a little."

"No big. It's not like Jonouchi doesn't do it all the time, anyway." Honda said with a grin.

"Whatever" Jonouchi said the statement as if it didn't bother him, but his face showed differently.

"Don't start fighting this early you two." Anzu scolded.

"Yeah come on, let's have fun." Yugi beamed.

Yugi's warm smile always made everyone feel better, and Jonouchi and Honda stopped instantly.

"You're right Yug, let's go."

The gang went off to the arcade to play games for a while, which Yugi always won. Yami started to believe Yugi was right and what happened this morning was nothing to worry about. That is, until one 'o' clock rolled around.

The gang had decided to take a break and get some lunch since they had just done 5 ½ strait hours of gaming. While they walked over to Burger World, Yugi's favorite place to eat, the next line of the chilling poem flowed into Yugi's ears.

"_A lack of air, an abundance of water."_

This time Yugi's world began to swirl around him. Eventually everyone faded away and he was all alone. Yugi began to panic and run around, trying to find all his friends. He didn't know he wasn't running in an empty void where no one was but straight into oncoming traffic.

"Yugi!" Everyone called out, but he couldn't hear them. The world he saw and heard was different from the reality in front of him, and not even Yami could reach him as a bus came towards the panicked Yugi.

_Pscipolnitsa and the Soul Eater…_

"Shit!" The Soul Eater exclaimed when Yugi ran into traffic like a chicken with its head cut off. "If he gets hit by that bus he'll die before I can eat his soul!"

"Don't worry Master," Pscipolnitsa said calmly. "I've seen people do much worse by the second line of my spells; he's actually holding up much better than I had expected."

"I know quite well how powerful his light truly is. Remember, this is actually the 9th line he's heard."

"Oh, that's right. He heard it before in his dream. He's so small and fragile looking, I would have never guessed he would hold up so well by just looking at him. Do you think he gets some of this strength from the soul you were searching for?"

"On the contrary, the soul I was searching for gets strength from the pure soul. The Pharaoh would have collapsed the first time the spell was uttered to him."

"Then why not give the spell to him first after thousands of searching for the tainted soul?"

The Soul Eater starred sternly at Pscipolnitsa as if the reason was obvious.

"You never, **ever** pass up a pure soul for a tainted one. With all the corrupted businessman and politicians in the world, a tainted soul is about as rare as a dueldisk in today's game-devoted world. But a pure soul…they're about as common as an albino hippo. Many people will never see one in their lifetime, but when you live multiple lifetimes, heh, you're bound to find one eventually."

_Back to the Street…_

Faced with no other options, Yami quickly took over and jumped out of the way of the oncoming vehicle and onto the hard sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. Anzu stood shocked while Jonouchi and Honda rushed over to check if Yugi was alright.

"I-I think I'm fine…" Yami said while he rubbed his head. "But…I'm not sure about Yugi. He was acting weird this morning, but **this**…I need to go home and sort it all out with him there."

Jonouchi and Honda didn't have any other ideas, so they nodded their heads and let Yami go back to the game shop while they tried to calm Anzu down.

"_I __**knew**__ there was something wrong! I should have never let Yugi go…"_ Yami scolded himself.

When Yami got to the Game Shop, he snuck in and ran up to Yugi's room, as to not alarm Grandpa Mutou about what had happened. He quietly closed the door behind him and attempted to mindlink with Yugi after what had seemed like ages of cutting him off. Yami didn't know what was going on with Yugi, but he didn't want to take any more chances out in public; so he had forced himself to stop the mindlink between him and Yugi. Now that it was open again, he could feel Yugi's distress and confusion at being cut off from Yami.

"_Wh-What happened? Wh-Where am I?" _Yugi wasn't facing Yami and seemed frightened, almost as if he'd never been in the dark space he and Yami sometimes met to talk.

"_Yugi…it's me_…"Yami approached Yugi, who turned around and ran up and hugged Yami. _"Yugi, what's wrong?"_

"_I-I don't know…I just…heard something and unexpectedly blacked out today. I found myself in an empty space, but everyone was gone. So I started trying to find you guys but… suddenly I couldn't move anymore and I found myself here…"_

Yami started to feel guilty. By trying to fix the situation, he might have made it worse for his Hikari. But Yugi's story was so strange; the boy didn't have a history of doing such things. Maybe all those duels in the shadow realm were finally taking their toll on the young boys mind.

Yami looked down to his Aibou's wet eyes and definitely saw something flash in them, something Yami didn't like. He bent down to try to get a better look, but it was if the dark flash that kept appearing in Yugi's eyes was playing cat and mouse with Yami; and once again it was gone as soon as Yami tried to get a better look.

"_*SIGH* Well, I took us back home, and we're in your room right now." _Yami explained, hoping to ease Yugi's fears. Yami decided not to tell Yugi that while he blacked out he ran into traffic and almost got hit because he didn't want to shake Yugi up anymore than he already was.

"_I-Is everyone else okay, too?"_ Yugi asked as he calmed down.

"_Huh? Yeah, yeah. Everyone's alright, but I want you to stay home for the rest of today, and tomorrow too, okay?"_

"_I don't really want to go out anyway." _Yugi rubbed his eyes, showing he was tired, and who wouldn't be after what he went through today? Yami remembered the nightmare Yugi had had the last time he had slept, but shook it off for the time being.

Yami let Yugi have control back over his body and Yugi went straight for the covers and slept.

* * *

_Yeah, Yugisrose had said they preffered it not to be centered, but I figured since I started the story that way, I'd stick with it to the end._

_Sarah: Yay.-_-_

_Why are you so negative today? Wait...are you **mad** that I basically pushed Yugi in front of a bus?_

_Sarah: Don't be ridiculous. I'm **enraged** that you did! HOW COULD YOU? What did Yugi ever do to you?_

_Well n-nothing. It's just a story._

_Sarah: Just? JUST? The **change **it!_

_No! You'll just have to deal with it. Hmph._

_Sarah: Grrrrr. Never!_

_Say what you want, **I'm** the author. Please comment everyone! I do liek reading them alot!^^_

_Sarah: No! Don't! She doesn't deserve to have any comments after what she's done! Only comments of anger will be accepted!_

_Don't say that!_

_Sarah: Deal with it!_

_...Touch_é. _Goodbye everyone! Hope you return for the next chapter!^^_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello again! Sorry for the dealy in updating, but I was kind of busy with homework and stuff._

_Sarah: Excuses, excuses. *munch munch*_

_Um...where did you get that popcorn from?_

_Sarah: Don't you even read your comments? I got it from the yugioh cast._

_Let me see the comments! *snatches comments* Blah blah blah...oh. I see. Well, this is a first._

_Sarah: Hm? *munch*_

_Well, apparently, my story has caused Anime Otaku and Otaku Sama to make a bet that whoever cries first gets sent to the shadow realm and the winner gets control of their body._

_Sarah: I know. Cool, right?_

_No! I don't want to cause anyone to die! And what if they both cry at the same time? Will they both go to the shadow realm?_

_Sarah: Geez, relax. Here, let me do the disclaimer for you while you try some of this delicious popcorn._

_Okay...I guess..._

_Sarah: YamiHeart doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh, and never will._

_Um...*munch munch* please enjoy chapter...uh...3? _

* * *

Like every night Yugi slept, Yami wandered around his soul room and attempted to find that one door that would give him back all his memories. So far, nothing, but that didn't stop him from trying every time he got the chance. Still, his Hikari's behavior kept bothering him.

"What could possibly cause this in Yugi's behavior?" Yami mused out loud. "Didn't he beg for something to stop the first time? I think he did…rrrrrrggg, but that still doesn't help me!"

Frustrated, Yami went over to one of the doors and flung it open. Just like the millions of others he had opened it was empty.

"Of course…" Yami slammed the door shut and continued to wander around his own soul room. "Why can't at least one good thing happen today?"

Little did Yami know what other horrible things were happening in Yugi's soul room at that exact time…

Yugi sat in the midst of the empty slowly darkening room with a blank expression. Had any of the people who saw Yugi on a regular basis saw him at that time, they would never had thought that he was Yugi, despite his unmistakable hairdo. What else could you expect when the darkness you were sitting in had once been your soulroom?

A figure emerged from the darkness, hunger flashing through his eyes. Yugi took no notice of the man's presence. The man bent down to Yugi's ear and tried to fight back urges to take a big bite out of the little boy, almost as if he were a vampire.

"Are you going to be a good little pure soul and let me eat you quickly?" The Soul Eater whispered. With the same blank expression, Yugi numbly shook his head "no".

Shocked, the Soul Eater stood up and stared at the detached boy.

"I tried to make it easier on your delicate little soul, but I don't mind eating it piece by piece that you lose of it because of Pscipolnitsa's spell. Each bit is sweeter than the last to someone like me." No response.

The Soul Eater bent over again and looked into Yugi's eyes. They were glazed over with a chilling darkness that could only be caused by one person. The Soul Eater smiled. Yami felt a chill, even though he didn't know why.

"You're so close to being all gone, and with five more lines of the spell left well… I tried to ease the pain for you." Satisfied, the Soul Eater swiftly turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

A single tear rolled down Yugi's cheek, but that's all he could manage to do.

The Soul Eater entered through another one of his portals to where Pscipolnitsa was at work concentrating on the spell that she and the Soul Eater had put on Yugi.

"How was he?" Pscipolnitsa asked.

"It seems your spell is destroying him from the inside out. His insides I have already devoured and are completely black, but I suspect when he wakes up again he will appear to be his normal self. Convenient, isn't it? " The Soul Eater sat down in his favorite red-velvet armchair and expected an answer.

"How so?"

"Think about it, not even the soul that resides with him will figure out what's messing with Yugi until it's too late and he's already long gone."

Pscipolnitsa thought about it. He was right, no one would notice until Yugi's soul was no longer in his body but instead in the Soul Eater's stomach being digested.

"I bet it will be fun to watch their expression's when they finally figure it out…" Pscipolnitsa mused out loud.

"Heh, I love the way you think." The Soul Eater smiled an evil smile, the only ones he ever actually had, and seemed quite pleased with Pscipolnitsa's response. "I had no idea a female demon could be so cold."

"Now that's just being prejudice."

"I mean, usually female demon's seek something when torturing mortals. Whether it be love or revenge, they often hesitate when it comes to causing such pain."

"Again, prejudice."

"I guess what I'm trying to ask is why are you helping me? What do you gain from crushing this pure soul?"

"The fun of it."

Pscipolnitsa's blunt answer shocked the Soul Eater to the point that he didn't know what to say. There wasn't even the slightest hesitation or thought into her answer; she truly just found it fun. The Soul Eater's smile grew.

"Well then, shall we let the fun continue?" The Soul Eater asked menacingly.

"Let's."

_To Yami and Yugi…_

Yami looked around the endless labyrinth of doors. He must have opened hundreds, all to end up empty. But Yami noticed he had been at it longer than usual.

"Is Yugi still asleep? What time is it, anyway?" Yami wasn't really sure if what he was feeling was actual time passing in his soul room or if the time he felt pass was the kind you feel when you're trying to get something accomplished but you just can't.

Yami left his soul room and went into Yugi's normal room as a spirit. He looked to the clock. _6:58 AM_.

"_Didn't Yugi take a nap at 1 'o' clock in the afternoon?"_ Yami started to panic. What if something horrible had happened when Yugi fell asleep? Yami began to recall when he felt that chill during the time in his soulroom and prayed that it hadn't been because something had happened to Yugi.

"_Yugi. Yugi!" _Yami began to shake Yugi to get him to wake up.

"Mmmm…What?" Yugi cracked his eyes open and smiled. "Oh, hey. Something wrong?"

"_Something wrong? Look at the time!"_

"6:59 AM. What of it?"

"_You took a 'nap' at 1 'o' clock in the afternoon!" _Atem used the quotation gesture when he said nap because it was obvious what Yugi had taken was more like a coma than a nap.

Yugi was about to respond when he stopped cold.

"_All of these things can take a life."_

The words made Yugi unable to move, unable to speak, unable to do anything except breath. Yami stood waiting for an answer that Yugi found he could not give. The words had frozen him solid. After a couple seconds, Yami knew something was wrong.

"_Yugi…?" _Yami put his hand on Yugi's shoulder, but instantly took it back when he felt how cold Yugi was. _"You…you're freezing."_

Yami looked to Yugi's eyes and saw pain and confusion written all over them. But now that Yugi was still, Yami looked deeper into them. There, he saw the darkness that had eluded his gaze the entire day yesterday. It was almost as though the deeper Yami went into the once familiar territory of his Hikari, the darker it got.

Yami started to question whether what he was looking at was really Yugi or not. The darkness was something Yami had expected to find only in himself, not his light. Just then, Yugi gasped and exhaled a big breath and began to pant while he tried to warm himself up. This snapped Yami out of Yugi's eyes and made his concern go back to the matter at hand again.

"_Yugi…what happened? Why were you so cold?" _Yami sat down on the bed and hugged Yugi to try and give the young boy some more warmth.

"I…I don't know. I just couldn't move." Yugi answered. He was obviously quite frightened about what had just happened, so Yami remained silent for a little bit.

Yami glanced over to the clock again. _7:01 AM_. He started to think about how it had been around the same time as yesterday when Yugi's first attack happened. Did time have something to do with it? Yami wasn't sure, but decided to watch the time along with his Hikari.

"Yami?" Yugi asked weakly, getting Yami's attention.

"_Yes? What is it Yugi?"_

"I'm not getting any warmer."

Yami realized he was right; Yugi wasn't any warmer from when Yami had touched him earlier to now. Yugi still felt like a block of ice. Yami could only hold Yugi tighter and hope for the best.

"_Please…just get better…" _Yami thought. He wasn't sure if Yugi had heard the thought or not, but Yugi started to relax although he still wasn't noticeably warmer.

Yugi was about to drift off into sleep again when more words passed through his head.

"_What to choose, what to choose…"_

Yugi quickly covered his ears and tried to make the noises stop.

"_Yugi…what's wrong?" _Yami grabbed Yugi's shoulder, but Yugi didn't respond.

Yami looked at the clock. _7:13 AM_.

"_If this is related to the other_ _episodes…the intervals are much smaller than last time…" _Yami thought. He looked back over to Yugi, who was now facing him.

"_Yugi, take your hands of your ears." _Yami attempted to remove Yugi's hands, but Yugi shook out of Yami's grip.

Unlike the first time when Yugi grabbed his ears, this time the noise didn't stop after the line of the poem finished. Screams and sirens blasted into Yugi's ears and he could do nothing to stop it. Yami, just like all the other times, could do nothing but wonder what was wrong.

Then, as quickly as it came, it went; leaving Yugi, or what was left of him, exhausted.

"Y-Yami." Yugi said weakly. "I-I'm going to go to sleep."

This bothered Yami to no end. How could Yugi possibly be tired after that "nap" he had **just** finished. Yami pondered his Hikari's behavior and hatched an idea.

"_Alright Yugi. But, there's someone I have to see today. So, may I borrow our body for a little while?"_

Yugi smiled feebly at Yami. "Sure. And, then after I get some more sleep, I'll feel better."

Yami seriously doubted this. If taking a 18 hour snooze didn't make someone feel better, neither would a couple hour one. But, instead of worrying Yugi, Yami nodded his head in agreement and took control.

Yami waited until he sensed Yugi's soul sleep and took off in the direction of Bakura's house.

"_Although I hate to admit it, if anyone knows what's going on, it's Bakura."_

S_arah: Bakura? Really?_

_Yeah, why not?_

_Sarah: No reason, I guess. It'll just be your funeral._

_Huh? Why?_

_Sarah: You now have to work with Bakura as part of your cast. ANd let me tell yuo this, he does NOT enjoy being told what to do._

_Yami Bakura: I have a portal to the shadow realm with your name on it._

_Ulp. Um...please continue commenting. I truly do enjoy reading them. And living. I enjoy living._

_Y. Bakura: Hmph. That's what they all say._

_Sarah: Hey! Don't threaten MY Hikari! That's MY job!_

_What?_

_Y. Bakura: I threaten Yugi all the time._

_Sarah: Yeah, but his Yami doesn't torture him. YamiHeart here does._

_Hey! Other people do it too! *SIGH* Anyway, please come back for the next chapter._

_Y. Bakura: You mean IF there's a next chapter._

_Ulp._


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello all my faithful readers. I'm actually surprsied at how many peopel like this story._

_Sarah: I'm surprised anyone likes any of your stories._

_...Anyway, it makes me so glad people enjoy what I write.^^ _

_Sarah: Does it also make you glad they have to forget youy make a million mistakes in your writing?_

_Why do you have to be so mean!_

_Sarah: Saying the truth is mean?_

_It can be! *SIGH* Just say the disclaimer._

_Sarah: Whatever. YamiHeart doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Besides, what person who does own Yu-Gi-Oh would name themselves "YamiHeart" anyway?_

_I would if I owned it._

_Sarah: And that's precisely why you **don't**._

_Please enjoy the next chapter._

* * *

Yami approached Ryo's apartment door with hesitation. Ryo's Yami, Bakura, was not one to help people, especially the Pharaoh. But Yami swallowed all doubt and knocked on the door, deciding Yugi's well being was far more important than what if's.

"Hello?" Came Ryo's soft voice as he opened the door. "Oh hey…Pharaoh? Is something wrong?"

"Ryo I'm very sorry, but I need to speak to your other self." Yami knew about the strained relationship between Ryo and Bakura and figured the last thing Ryo would want to do is let his Yami take control.

"What do you want, _pharaoh_." The instant change in personalities shocked Yami. Bakura leaned against the door frame, obviously annoyed. "What? You don't actually let your Hikari have a choice of whether they can have control of the body or not, do you?"

Yami was dumbfounded until he realized who he was talking to. This was Bakura, why would he care what Ryo thought? What Ryo wanted to do? Yami made a mental note to address that problem later, but right now there were more pressing matters he had to get to.

"Look Bakura, I need your…help." Yami felt as though he was throwing his pride onto the ground and squishing it like a discarded cigarette. Asking for help from your rival? Unheard of, but… it had to be done.

Bakura found this quite amusing. "Do you know? Well **too bad**," Bakura was enjoying the fact that he was plain out refusing to help the Pharaoh. "I've got work to do. You know, figure out how to destroy you and your vessel. By the way, where is the little squirt? Usually you leave the talking to him."

"That's why I came." Yami said, trying to hold back his anger. Getting into a fight would help no one at this point. "There's something wrong with Yugi."

"And you expect me to do something about it? As far as I'm concerned this isn't my problem. My host's fine so I have no reason to get involved here. Perhaps it's **your** fault. Maybe **you** didn't protect him." Bakura smirked. He knew he must have been pressing every button in the Pharaoh's body at that point.

Yami couldn't contain his anger any longer. "Damn it Bakura! I wouldn't have even come here if I didn't think it had something to do with the Shadow Realm!"

This made Bakura's grin fade. He didn't command the shadows to do anything. The shadows had promised **him**, no one else, the right to destroy the Pharaoh and his little vessel. Now Bakura wanted to know who was messing with his prey.

"Come inside." Bakura peeled himself from the door frame and walked back into the apartment. Yami waited a second, stunned by the sudden change in attitude towards the situation Bakura had just made. Once the initial shock had passed, Yami bolted into the apartment so that he wouldn't lose Bakura.

Bakura lead him into a space where little light filtered in through closed curtains to reveal two faded couches facing each other. Bakura sat on one, Yami sat on the other. The two spirits stared at each other for a while, both with their arms crossed over their chests.

Finally, Bakura spoke. "Tell me what's happened so far." His words lacked all feeling except anger, but at what Yami did not know.

"It started yesterday when Yugi woke up from a nightmare of some sort. Right after that he fell to the ground with his hands over his ears screaming 'make it stop'."

"At what time?"

Yami was confused. "Huh?"

"*SIGH* At what **time** did Yugi fall to the ground?" Bakura spoke like he was talking to a preschooler.

Yami thought about it for a second. "I would say at 7 'o' clock."

"AM or PM?"

Yami didn't know how to respond.

"Grrr…in the morning or at night? You said he woke up from a nightmare but you never specified whether he awoke from a simple nap or from a night of sleep."

"Oh. In the morning." Yami had always wondered what those letters on Yugi's digital clock were for.

"Thank you. Continue."

"Yes. Well, it was over almost as quickly as it had happened and then Yugi went out to spend the day with his friends. Then, when they all headed for Burger World, Yugi ran into traffic."

Bakura would have laughed at hearing such news if he wasn't so pissed at his hunch of what was happening to the vertically challenged boy. "And at what time was that?"

"Um… 1 'o' clock maybe? There was no clock around so…"

"AM or PM?"

"In the afternoon."

"So PM then?"

"Uh…yeah." Yami felt stupid. He didn't know anything about keeping time.

"Seeing as I didn't hear on the news that the King of Games got hit by traffic, I'm guessing he got out of the way."

"Not exactly. I had to take over and jump out of the way of an oncoming bus. After that I went straight home and then checked on Yugi to make sure he was alright. He said he had found himself in some strange place and everyone had disappeared so he tried to find us…"

"So his mind was transported but his body was still in reality…" Bakura mumbled to himself.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Don't stop. Keep going." Bakura demanded.

"Anyway, after all that Yugi took another nap but…nap isn't exactly the right word. He slept for a good 18 hours." Yami expected a reaction out of Bakura, but got none. "Isn't that weird?"

"Not if my hunch is correct. And what did I say about stopping?"

"Yeah, well, Yugi woke up again at 7 'o' clock in the morning and had another weird thing happen. This time he became very cold and stopped moving for a good minute. When he was frozen I saw…something in Yugi's eyes but…I don't know what it was. After that I tried to warm him up to no avail. Then, at 7:13, Yugi grabbed his ears again, but I don't know why because right after that he went back to sleep. So, do you know what's wrong?" Yami looked at Bakura's face to see it twisted into a scowl.

"Damn him…look, have you been to Yugi's soul room since yesterday?" Bakura asked.

"No, why?"

"Hmph. You might not want to then. I can guarantee it will be black and lifeless. The reality of the situation is that Yugi probably isn't even alive anymore." Bakura said coldly.

"What?" A hint of fear came out of Yami's voice. What did Bakura mean Yugi wasn't alive?

"His soul has been eaten by none other than the man known simply as the Soul Eater. And he does just as his name implies: eats souls."

"Are you sure…? What proof do you have that led you to that conclusion?" Yami didn't want to believe that something bad could happen to Yugi right under his nose. It would mean he failed as Yugi's protector.

"Don't believe me, huh? Well, let me show you something about those times you told me." Bakura took out a piece of paper and a pen and began to write.

"The times you told me were, in order: 7 AM, 1PM, 7AM, and 7:13 AM. The only pattern you probably see is in the 7's. But tell me, do you know what military time is?" Yami shook his head no. "Hmph. Let me explain. Remember how I asked you to clarify AM or PM? Well, in the military they developed an easier way to tell what time it is to each other. Simply, after 12 AM noon, instead of changing all the numbers to PM, they just keep counting. So 1 PM is 13 'o'clock, 2 PM is 14 'o'clock and so on and so forth."

"If you looked at it that way then…it would be 7, 13, 7, 7, and 13. But wouldn't the last time mess with the pattern? And what do those numbers have to do with anything?" Yami asked.

"The fact that the last time messes with your 'pattern' means that the Soul Eater is simply getting impatient, not that he was ever known for his patience in the first place. And the numbers have everything to do with it because 7 and 13 are his favorite numbers." Bakura said matter-of-factly.

"The lucky and unlucky number!" Yami exclaimed, his gaming knowledge helping him make connections.

"Bingo. You see, the Soul Eater has an accomplice named Pscipolnitsa who is a demon with the ability to chant spells that make mortals go insane. I firmly believe the Soul Eater decided to eat Yugi's pure soul and used one of Pscipolnitsa's spells to distract you from what was truly going on."

"But, why Yugi? What did Yugi do?"

Bakura paused for a moment before answering, "Yugi didn't do anything."

"What? Then why…?"

"Because of _you_." A bolt of shock and pain went through Yami. "You'd be surprised how many people want your soul, _Pharaoh_. The Soul Eater is just one in many who wouldn't mind destroying you. If I had to guess, I'd say the Soul Eater was trying to find someone to eat, found you, but saw Yugi and decided Yugi's pure soul would be ten times more appetizing then your tainted one. As we say in the shadows- 'A single pure soul is worth more than 10 quadrillion tainted ones.' This really shouldn't come as a shock to you; you blame yourself all the time for getting Yugi in danger."

"Shut it Bakura. Just tell me how to get Yugi back." Yami's fear was mixing with his rage and Bakura knew it.

"Hell, there's probably no way of even getting Yugi back at this point. Had you come to me yesterday…"

Yami darted over to Bakura and grabbed him by the collar. "Bakura, damn it, I know you know something! Just tell me!"

"Now, now Pharaoh. Is that any way to treat me after all the nice information I've given you?" Yami growled. "Fine. I'll be damned if the Soul Eater is the one to destroy you and not me. But, you have to let go of me first."

Yami regained his composure and let Bakura go.

"Thank you. Now, if you want to have any chance of rescuing Yugi, you'll have to go to the Soul Eater's domain in the shadow realm."

"How, pray tell, do you expect me to get to the Shadow Realm?" Yami asked.

"You've got shadow powers, use 'em. Now, only thing you can really do when you find the Soul Eater is ask for Yugi back. You could try challenging him to some kind of game, but I don't recall that really being the Soul Eaters style... I don't know too much about Pscipolnitsa… maybe she'd like to play a game. Oh well." Bakura shrugged off his ramblings and continued. "You better get going if you want to save Yugi."

"Bakura, I'm not sure why you're helping me-"

"Oh please. I'm helping myself. Why do you think the shadows haven't consumed me yet? I promised them _I_ would destroy you. If someone else did I wouldn't be needed anymore. I'd be disposed of so quickly, Ryo would start to question whether I ever truly existed. Now, get _out_."

Bakura thrusted his finger toward the door, and Yami quickly got up. He didn't really like Bakura, and he still hated the fact he had to ask his enemy for help. He didn't want to be in Ryo's apartment any longer than he needed to be.

As Yami closed the door behind him he heard Bakura yell, "You better survive so that I can crush you when you get back!"

"…I'm not sure what to think of that guy sometimes." Yami shook his head back and forth before continuing. "No, I have to focus on saving Yugi right now, not what to think of my enemy."

With that, Yami ran back to the Kame game shop trying to formulate a plan to go save his Hikari.

* * *

_Well... was the chapter okay? Someone said to be careful not to make Bakura OC, and I was worrying about it the whole time I was writing._

_Sarah: All I can say is it's a good thing you don't ask people do set high expectations for your writing._

_I refuse to listen to your nasty comments anymore!_

_Sarah: Hey YamiHeart?_

_Yeah?_

_Sarah: Your writing sucks._

_AUGH! Believe it or not Sarah, there are people who like my writing!_

_Sarah: You'll need proof to convince me._

_Oh yeah? PLEASE! Leave comments and prove to my Yami that someone out there likes my writing!_

_Sarah: No one will comment..._

_AUGH! Thank you for reading..._


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello. Sorry, but this chapter is going to be a short one. But it has in it what we've all been waiting for: Yugi! The real him._

_Sarah: Heh, I thought you just forgot he existed._

_I didn't forget him! I promise!_

_Sarah: Whatever. YamiHeart doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Blah blah blah._

_Thank you, Sarah. And now I present chapter 5 of The Madness Spell. Please enjoy.^^_

* * *

Slowly, Yugi opened his eyes and was greeted only with darkness. Confused, he blinked a couple of times and sat up to find himself in some sort of liquid. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but even when they did he couldn't figure out where he was.

"Yami?" He called out weakly, hoping that maybe his other half could explain what was going on.

When no reply came, Yugi stood all the way up and looked around. That's when he noticed it.

"What the…" His leg…it wasn't…all _there_. It reminded him of the duel against Yami Marik and completely freaked Yugi out.

"Yami!" He cried out again. "Yami!"

Yugi started to run blindly into the darkness, the mysterious liquid splashing under each of his steps. Yugi realized that not only was his right leg not all there, but also his left shoulder, parts of his jacket, one of the tips of his hair, and right elbow. This only freaked Yugi out more and forced his pace to quicken. Eventually, Yugi spotted a figure in the distance.

"Excuse me!" Yugi called out to the stranger. "Hey! Can you help me?"

The figure slowly turned around to reveal the bony face of a man. Yugi slowly decreased his speed until he was stopped a couple feet away from the man. The man barely had any of himself left; only one of his eyes, an arm, a bit of graying hair, a thin mouth, and bits and pieces of a torso remained. His remaining eye was dilated and creeped Yugi out.

"Um, sir? Are you alright?" Yugi reached out his hand, but the man quickly moved away.

"Don't touch me!" The man spat. "The liquid burns, your light burns, everything burns."

"W-what do you mean?" Yugi looked down at the mysterious liquid, which actually felt cool to his touch.

"Heh heh. You think I'm like you with all my missing parts, but we aren't even close. You see, while I'm disappearing, you're just arriving."

"Arriving? Arriving where? Where are we?"

"The stomach." The man said bluntly. "And you're standing in stomach acid right now."

Yugi gulped. "B-but how did I get here? Where's Yami? Is he here too?"

The man's dilated eyes looked up in confusion before answering, "I have no idea what the hell a Yami is, but I can answer how you got here. The Soul eater ate ya."

"The "Soul Eater"? Who's that?"

"What does it sound like? He's a demon who eats souls to survive. And I can tell you right now why he chose to eat _you_."

Yugi's automatic response was, "Yami?"

"Like I said, I have no idea what the hell a Yami is."

"Sorry."

"Anyway, the Soul Eater ate ya because you're a pure soul. Now I've been here for quite a while and I've never seen a pure soul come in here."

Yugi was shocked at the reason the old man gave. It was always because Yami had some ancient foe that Yugi was put in danger, but now this man was saying it was all Yugi that had gotten himself into this mess. He wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or not.

"_I mean, if it's not Yami's fault, he won't beat himself up about it."_ Yugi thought. _"But that still doesn't explain why I don't remember getting eaten, seeing as I would think that wouldn't be something I would forget."_

"I bet Pscipolnitsa put some sort of spell on ya so that you'd be easier to digest."

"Huh?" Yugi asked, wondering if the man had read his mind or something.

"Well, I can't imagine a pure soul would be easy to digest when you've had tainted souls all your life. And seeing as you aren't all here, I'd say that Pscipolnitsa put a spell on ya to make you get eaten bites at a time. Probably right under the nose of that "Yami" fella ya keep referring to."

"This Pscipolnitsa person can do that?"

"Why not? She can do almost any type of curse."

"I have to tell Yami. Um…is there a way out of here?" Yugi asked hopefully.

"Don't ya think I would have used it by now?" Yugi dropped his shoulders in defeat. "You might be able to be conscious for a little bit in your body, but seeing as the only parts of your soul left in there are some leg, shoulder, hair jacket, and elbow…"

"I have to try." Yugi said confidently. "I have to tell Yami what's going on so that we can figure a way out of this."

"Hmph. Good luck with that. The Soul Eater never regurgitates his prey, and he certainly won't give up a pure soul."

"Heh, I know Yami and I will come up with something. Thank you for all your help." Yugi did a slight bow to show respect to the man.

"Yeah, yeah. Oh." The man looked up. "Looks like it's my time to go."

"Wha-" Before Yugi could finish his sentence, the man disappeared. Yugi was silent for a while as the shock of what had just happened seeped in.

"Will that happen to me?" Yugi asked sadly as he dropped his head. "No! I have to contact Yami and believe in him. We'll fix everything, I know we will!"

But even Yugi was not completely convinced.

* * *

_I'm kind of horrible, huh?_

_Sarah: Kind of? Sometimes I question who's the Yami here._

_Yeah, well, I wnat to thnak everyone who has been commenting! They mean so much to me!_

_Sarah: That's pretty pitiful if comments have sentimental value to you._

_No it's not! Comments, flames or not, are cool becasue that means someone took the time to tell me something!_

_Sarah: Make that a little more vague why don't you._

_*SIGH* Just please comment. And I thank you for reading! Bye! _


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